One email, eight interpretations
Marketing sends an email to the group's database: two courses and a glass of wine for a set price, Monday to Thursday, with a code. On the first Monday, one site has not set it up on the till, so staff apply a manual discount that comes out slightly wrong. Another lets guests use it on Friday because the server did not know the rule. A third sets it up correctly but staff do not know about it, so guests who mention it are told it does not exist.
At the end of the campaign, marketing asks how many people used the offer at each site and what it did to spend. The answer is a guess, because half the redemptions went through as open discounts. The finance team sees discounts up across the estate and cannot say whether that was the campaign working or staff being generous with it.
Why group offers go wrong at site level
- Each site's EPOS has to be set up separately, by different people, from an email brief.
- Rules such as days, times, dishes included and one per table are not built into the till.
- Codes are shared on social media and used beyond their intended audience.
- Staff are told about the offer in a pre-shift briefing some of them missed.
- Redemptions are recorded as general discounts, so they cannot be reported on.
What inconsistent offers cost
Margin leaks when discounts are applied too widely or on the wrong days. Guests turned away with a valid offer become complaints, often public. The group cannot tell which promotions actually brought people in and which just discounted guests who were coming anyway, so the next campaign is planned on instinct. And staff time goes into arguments at the table instead of service.
How we make a promotion the same everywhere
- Marketing and ops build the promotion once: what is included, price or discount, days, times, sites, limits and whether a code is needed.
- The promotion is pushed to each site's EPOS as a set menu or discount rule through its API, or prepared as an exact setup sheet where it cannot be pushed.
- Codes are unique per guest where possible, so each can be checked and used once.
- Staff check codes on the till or a tablet, which shows whether the code is valid today at this site.
- A short staff note about the offer appears on the kitchen and floor tablets on the day it starts.
- Redemptions are reported by site, day and code source, with average spend for tables that used the offer and those that did not.
| Promotion rule | Where it is enforced |
|---|---|
| Days and times | EPOS rule or code check |
| Included dishes | Set menu button on the till |
| One use per code | Central code check |
| Sites taking part | Promotion setup, pushed per site |
The next campaign
Marketing sets up the offer once and sees which sites are ready before launch. Staff apply it the same way everywhere. Guests with a code get what the email promised. After the campaign, the group sees redemptions and spend by site, and can compare it with the last campaign. Offers that do not bring new trade can be dropped with evidence.
Is this how your offers run?
- Offers are set up on each till separately.
- Staff apply manual discounts for promotions.
- Codes are used outside their rules.
- Nobody can say how many people used an offer at each site.
- Guests are sometimes refused a valid offer.